Hey folks, bet you were wondering when you'd hear from me again! Well, I've been diligently working on the justice system, currently I'm testing and revising everything but the jailing aspect. I have to hammer out some details on that end before it enters the testing phase. Here are some of the things you can expect to see when justice is released:

When you are arrested, you will be stripped and thrown into a cell to await trial. You will be happy to know that you will have a (insanely slim) chance to actually break out of your jail cell and continue your life of crime. However... once out of your cell, you will have to avoid the guards roving the halls of the jail and find a way to access the evidence storage locker and reclaim your confinscated goods, then on to freedom! The benefit to breaking out is the fact that warrants and bounties will not be "active" on you... this does not mean that your record is wiped... it just means that you will not be "wanted" until you commit your next crime. If you are caught again, you will have to answer to all crimes you've committed. Breaking out (as in real life) just delays the inevitable (but much more fun than sitting around waiting )).

When in trial, you will be shackled to your seat, preventing you from leaving the courtroom. You will be given your case file and the option to argue the case yourself, or have someone else represent you (preferably a bureaucrat). If you ARE a bureaucrat, you will suffer a moderate penalty for arguing your own case (any bureaucrat who is committing crimes probably isn't very law savvy anyway). The more times you commit a crime, the stiffer your final penalty will be. Be wary when arguing your own case or having someone lacking in skill argue for you.... it IS possible to make things worse for yourself to the point where you can end up serving the same amount of jail time for stealing as you would for committing murder. You will also be able to plead guilty and recieve the nominal/standard punishment for your crime.

IF you recieve jail time for your crime, you again have the option to attempt to break out before your time limit is up (keep in mind, multiple crimes that involve jail sentances stack and you could wind up in the slammer for quite awhile). The benefit here should be obvious... you have "paid" for your crime and released yourself without anyone knowing... you now have a clean slate. The drawback in either case is an escape charge and being returned to your cell.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll do the best I can to get back in a timely fashion. Hope this gets the salivary glands working!!!_________________-Rikiar Vandalarius

Will Streetwise affect your chances of breaking out (either in the capture phase or jailed phase)? Will any stats -- Coordination springs to mind -- play a role, too?

How long of a jail time are we looking at? Hours, days, weeks? For a single charge of murder, I mean, since that seems to be the main crime anyone's going to be committing.

Will previous charges stack against you even if you've served jail time? For example, if you've killed four people in the past, if you kill for a fifth time will those four previous charges be held against you (in terms of added jail time, monetary fines, and difficulty in arguing the case)? You mentioned that the more times you do something illegal the harder your penalty will be, but I don't know if you meant before the arrest or simple overall (as per my question).

Would it be possible to get an extension on the trial? For instances where no Bureaucrats are logged-on.. or when the defendant/lawyer has to leave (for whatever reason)? I know Bureaucrats are not the only option for arguing cases, but for all intents and purposes they are going to be the main option for any sane person.

Are you going to have to actively serve your sentence? As in, do you have to be logged-in for it to countdown?

While in the slammer, I think it would be neat if random events could happen... since it's unlikely you're stuck in the same cell for days on end. For example, someone can come up to you and offer to give you a crude tattoo (you know what I'm talking about, homie). Someone could attack you. Someone could make you their bitch. Come on, get creative with this.

Are charges in one city going to be able to carry over to other cities? I would think murder would, since it's one badass accusation. I doubt public indecency (spitting infront of a guard, sex, et al) would translate across boarders.

If you get a really awesome Bureaucrat to argue your case, will it be possible to get out of any penalty altogether? Or will there always be a decent monetary fine? I would hate to see an infamous murderer (Torrent is the first to come to mind, but there are others) get off scott-free simply because he got some 100th level Bureaucrat to argue for them, but it is realistic.

I hope bureaucrats are going to get a nice healthy fee for arguing cases, they deserve it!_________________All explorers are seeking something they have lost. It is seldom they find it, and more seldom still that the attainment brings them greater happiness than the quest.

Public Sexual Displays. They'll be treated as more serious than murdering a school of innocent children. The punishment will be sitting beneath the dude in my avatar. And if you knew the context in which the picture was taken, you wouldn't want to do that.

I think they are called 'thwamps' though I can't remember if that's correct or not. Been awhile since I played anything that had to do with Mario. I think the last was Super Mario World or Super Mario RPG for SNES._________________It is better to be pissed off than pissed on.

They were in Super Mario 3 for the old 8-bit NES (both of which I still have)._________________** The phrase "break a leg" just wasn't ambitious enough for Mellie Knight. [8:31 pm]
** Mellie Knight was soundly defeated by Aesal Anari-Idia in the Zgedhi Gkenrzeg Rav! [8:31 pm]

Ok, for Bureaucrats, how would you like to be notified about player cases? Via an organizer upgrade, via comm, both, neither? Would you like the ability to NOT receive notifications that a player case is available? Gimme some input so I don't end up needlessly spamming everyone with cases when we release justice. Although.... that would be fun for me... mwahahahaha!_________________-Rikiar Vandalarius

I wouldn't mind through organizer or comm. Though if it's like ticker update, I still am not using that. I don't know at this point, if players will want to just comm, private or otherwise. I don't know how the ticker update works. Does it work all the time as long as it's set to yes? So there would have to be another set on the organizer for player cases?_________________All explorers are seeking something they have lost. It is seldom they find it, and more seldom still that the attainment brings them greater happiness than the quest.